Everyone loves a well-manicured lawn, but grass grows quickly, an average of 2-6 inches per week. So, we fire up the mower and get to work. But how many of us stop to think about the impact that this simple, everyday task has on the environment?

Gas-powered mowers may deliver a green lawn, but with disproportionately high emissions rates, they drive us away from a green future.

Mowing: It’s a Dirty Job

How much do mowers contribute to pollution? After all, with hundreds of millions of cars on the road in the US alone. Surely, emissions from vehicles is worse. Well… one new 3 HP gas powered mower produces as much emissions in one hour as 11 new cars traveling at 55 MPH.

And that’s just for your garden-variety push mower. For a 24 HP commercial zero turn mower, you can expect emissions equivalent to 88 cars. If you run your mower for 5-7 hours per day, bump that up to 440-616 cars. Say you use your ZTR 350 hours per year: that’s the same as 1,694,000 car miles.

Residential models don’t fare much better. In one hour, an 18 HP mower produces emissions equal to 66 cars. After 1.5 hours, you’ve put as much noxious gas into the air as 99 cars. That’s like driving 181,650 miles a year.

Whoa!

Shocked? Mowers are some of the worst polluters on the market. Because they are not “on road” vehicles, environmental regulations are more lenient. Emissions are 30 times worse than gas-powered cars/trucks, and efficiency hovers around only 20%. If you went to an auto dealership, there’s no way you’d purchase a road vehicle with such poor performance.

You don’t have to compromise when it comes to your mower either. Electric mowers are capable of tackling any job from lawns to athletic fields while creating zero emissions. Zilch.

Ready to see how switching to electric can help you green up your act? Click here to request a demo with Mean Green Mowers!